The 5 Best Industries for Job Seekers in 2017

If you plan on looking for a new job this year, you should focus your attention on the industries that are primed for growth, a new study suggests.

Research from CareerBuilder and Emsi revealed that the hottest industries for job seekers next year will be business and financial operations, information technology, health care, sales and skilled trades.

"Our research shows that employers are very invested in expanding headcount in areas such as analytics and data science, product development and sales as they strive to stay competitive in B2B and B2C markets,” Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder, said in a statement. "Skilled laborers will also see high employment demand in the year ahead as will workers in clinical roles." [See Related Story: Proven Job Search Tactics for Every Career Level]

The study's authors developed their list by looking at jobs that:

Pay, on average, around $20 or more per hour.

Have grown faster than the overall labor market over the past four years.

Have a critical mass of jobs.

Based on those factors, the study's authors highlighted the five career categories that will offer job seekers a larger number of opportunities.

The analysis was based on CareerBuilder and Emsi's labor market database, which pulls from a variety of national and state employment resources as well as online job postings.

Chad Brooks

Chad Brooks is a Chicago-based writer who has nearly 15 years' experience in the media business. A graduate of Indiana University, he spent nearly a decade as a staff reporter for the Daily Herald in suburban Chicago, covering a wide array of topics including, local and state government, crime, the legal system and education. Following his years at the newspaper Chad worked in public relations, helping promote small businesses throughout the U.S. Follow him on Twitter.